Coming up: Smart ID cards minus queues

To overcome the Unique Identification Authority of India’s dependence on mobile networks in remote areas, the home ministry is pitching for deploying India's multi-purpose Resident Identity Card for e-governance applications.

In a note listed for discussion by the cabinet on Thursday this week, the home ministry pointed to the advantages that the microprocessor chip-based ID card has over UIDAI.

Besides security, e-governance applications in areas such as direct benefit transfer, public distribution system, rural employment guarantee scheme and passport can be easily built on the card platform, senior government officials told HT.

Unlike its alternative, these cards would provide an off-line mechanism to authenticate an individual's identity, a government official said.

Encrypted card readers - about the size of credit card machines - would be able to read the data contained in the chip within seconds.

Many officials believe that excessive reliance on mobile networks is not advisable.